Forced Bonding Time
by yugifrozenfan
Summary: AU. When Elsa revealed her powers, she exiled herself to the mountains of her own accord. However, the townspeople, convinced that Anna might be harboring powers herself because she's Elsa's sister, exile her as well by extension. Anna hopes that this will break the icy veneer Elsa created for herself but will she be able to break down the walls & make up for the lost time?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: After a long hiatus trying to come up with ideas for my second fic, I HAVE IT! While Elsa's exile in the movie was of her own accord, what if Anna was exiled by the townspeople by extension of being her sister & how would Elsa react to this news? The Frozen brand & characters are owned by Disney & I do not intend to make any profit off of these fics.**

"Elsa, please! I can't live like this anymore!" Anna was begging her sister to come to her senses & end her self-imposed exile but however, the new queen was having none of it.

"Then leave", Elsa ordered Anna, trying to hide her regret in saying those words but on the other hand, she would have no clue that the following events would lead Anna to join her in her upcoming exile. As Elsa tensed up further on her way to the door, Anna kept pushing her sister, demanding why she kept shutting her out all those years but Elsa, as usual, remained so reluctant to even converse with Anna (even though they had a brief conversation earlier on) so she brushed it aside with an "Enough, Anna".

"WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF?!" Anna finally shouted to the point the guests to the coronation ball stopped to look at the sisters squabbling.

"I said ENOUGH!" Elsa shouted, accidentally creating an ice shield to protect herself. Realizing what she had done, Elsa took off for the mountains.

"Elsa, WAIT!" Anna shouted after Elsa's back & luckily, she had Elsa's attention but it was only for a short time. Silently mouthing "Good-bye, Anna", Elsa ran outside, ordering the townspeople to stay away from her because of her powers. After Elsa ran off to the mountains, the townspeople turned on Anna, thinking she had something to do with this.

"Are you in on this?" one asked suspiciously.

"No! I swear!" Anna tried to plead with the man, but he remained convinced that Anna must have had powers like Elsa.

"You're her sister, you must have some part in this!" another brung up & by this point, the townspeople were fully convinced that Anna had conspired with Elsa beforehand in regards of the events of the coronation ball. The idea was like 2 strings in a knot: Anna had powers & conspired with Elsa beforehand in regards to the proceeding events.

"We KNEW something was up! Why would the late king seal the gates to the entire kingdom if they had daughters who were BOTH MAGICAL!" one man raged on, pointing a finger at Anna.

"You're wrong! I don't have any powers, I'm just ordinary!" she tried to explain but the townspeople won't have any of it as they were still thinking that she had conspired with Elsa beforehand.

Anna had two options: stay in the kingdom or follow Elsa to the mountains. The townspeople were for her leaving again because of what they convinced themselves & while Anna was willing to leave the kingdom, someone had to take over the throne of Arendelle. Elsa had also technically abdicated the throne of Arendelle which would result in Anna becoming queen.

"I can't leave", she told the townspeople. Upon hearing this, one lunged at her but was immediately held back by his companion.

"Get. Out", the companion said so Anna finally conceded & with one last look at the kingdom, she fled to the mountains herself.

Meanwhile, Elsa trudged up the mountain, sure that Anna couldn't follow her but unbeknownst to her, Anna was cast out from the kingdom & was coming up the mountain in a short second. What would she do?


	2. Chapter 2

"What would she do?" Elsa put that question out of her head immediately. Although she DID care about Anna, she made a vow to herself not to get too emotionally involved with her lest her powers go out of wack again but however, tonight, her vow would be tested & she knew that while erecting her ice palace.

As Anna trudged up the mountain, she heard singing & instantly knew she was at the right mountain. She'd come to the right place: Elsa's mountain. Anna hoped that Elsa would let her stay at the ice palace but she secretly knew what the answer would probably be, the word she'd been denied most of her life when it came to Elsa: No. After Elsa made herself up into the Snow Queen, she heard a knock on the palace door & instantly knew who that knock belonged to. Anna.

Anna raised her fist to knock again but suddenly, the door opened by itself & Anna stepped inside, marveling at the beauty & splendor the palace had to offer. She was even more amazed when Elsa appeared on the stairwell.

"Anna", she said, staring at her like she was intruding.

"Elsa, you look beautiful & the palace is just WOW!" Anna couldn't stop staring around the palace. It was true, the palace was indeed nice but Anna couldn't expect how could anyone could LIVE in it without the proper stuff.

"Thank you, I never knew what I was capable of", Elsa said flatly, trying to control her emotions with Anna around. "Anna, please leave me alone & return home, assume the throne & open up the gates. Leave me to be who I was destined to be: a queen of ice & snow", she pleaded but Anna stood her ground.

"Elsa, there's a problem with that. I was exiled out of the kingdom", Anna explained, a revelation that shocked Elsa.

"Wait, what? Why?" Elsa was now fully interested in this & needed to hear the story so she conjured up some furiniture & sat down to hear Anna's explanation. Anna related how the townspeople were under the impression the two conspired together to bring out the endless winter Elsa unknowingly caused & since she was Elsa's sister, they assumed Anna had some dormat power & lest they take the risk of letting it out, they exiled her. Elsa felt sorry for Anna & decided to do the right thing & let Anna stay with her.

"You stay, just don't get in my way" Elsa ordered & disappeared up the stairwell to make chambers for Anna, who was delighted that she would be staying with Elsa in the beautiful ice palace. Elsa, on the other hand, knew that Anna had no where else to go after her exile & she also knew she had redeem herself in her sister's eyes but her icy veneer crept back in & she ordered that Anna can stay as long as she stayed away from her, a request that Anna was all too happy to oblige. On the other hand, Elsa also knew it would have been easier to say "That's your problem, not mine" but nope, that would have been the coward's way out.

Over the next few days, Anna abided Elsa's wishes by going into town & getting food & supplies for the palace but however, she had to go undercover in the marketpalace as the kingdom was put under new rule & the new ruler considered all exilees matyrs & would be arrested on sight if they were outed. While food & supplies were easy for Anna to get her mitts on, water was a little hard to come by, considering Elsa froze the water source but Anna was able to acquire some from their kingdom's ice harvesters but the catch was that she had to buy their silence (as the ice harvesters worked for the kingdom, they could easily report her to the interim king & he would have her arrested as a matyr). Day in & day out, Anna would be in the marketplace undercover to give Elsa her "alone time" & provide the required elements for long-term living since the palace was made of ice & wasn't really well-insulated. After all, Anna saw little of Elsa & vice versa which was how Elsa preferred it but she knew that she would have to crack her veneer & let Anna into her world at some point. This was what she was thinking about when she woke up from her afternoon nap & saw the supplies on the palace floor, knowing instantly who it was that was leaving them.

"Anna!" she called for her sister as a snowstorm began to form but it was too late for Anna went back to town to catch the harvester for the water & that was where she was right now & she had to move quickly when she noticed the snowstorm. However, the harvester noticed that his customer was actually all fidgety when she noticed the impeding snowstorm & after the exchange was complete, Anna took off but the harvester noticed a giveaway: a lock of red hair. However, he couldn't prove that it was her to start with as many royals in the kingdom had red hair (even the late king had red locks) but he'd find a way despite the bribe money to keep his mouth shut.

After Anna returned to the palace & after Elsa refrained herself from hugging her, she told Elsa about her exploits in town but Elsa was quick to catch a loophole in her explanation: the town & by extentsion, the marketplace were connected to the kingdom & if Anna was exiled from the kingdom as a whole, how was she able to get into town?

"You lied to me about being exiled, didn't you? How are you getting into town, then, hmmmmm?" Elsa asked, thinking that Anna made up the story as an excuse to stay & bond with her.

"HELL-O! Cloak? False name & voice? Ring a bell?" Anna revealed & proceeded to explain that her exploits in town are part to make the palace more homely but since she was, indeed, exiled, she needed to do it disguised but ran into a close call at the water run. As Anna related, the snowstorm Elsa had summoned to call Anna back & the way she reacted to it nearly tipped off the harvester that was supplying them the water that it was Anna he was serving & Elsa must have been in the mountains somewhere. He also noticed a lock of red hair under the cloak hood as she stormed away.

"Oh, Anna! Please don't go into town again! I nearly lost you once & I won't lose you again! Even if it was by my own hand or to a dungeon! Please!" Elsa was on her knees, begging Anna not to return to town & Anna knew that Elsa did have a point: She very nearly got caught because of how she reacted to the snowstorm Elsa had summoned to get her back to the palace & for once, she understood.

"Okay, I won't go back into town but if we run out of supplies & food, we're out of luck in that department", Anna brung up the fact & Elsa decided to remedy that by sending an owl instead of Anna going out there. Elsa also realized that by reacting to Anna's reappearence in the palace the way she did, she was acting the way an older sister would.

**AN: Well, that's Chapter 2. Also, if anyone who's following the story got an notification email regarding Chapter 2, DISREGARD that email. Tease for the next chapter: Remember that harvester that Anna kept solicating for water? Well, he's coming back & someone will get caught. Again, I don't own the Frozen characters & brand.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Elsa, do you think it's time for you to start thawing the winter?" Anna asked & the question caught Elsa by surprise.

"Come again?" she inquired. While it was true that Elsa had become more open with her sister during their shared time in the palace which was judged by how she reacted by her return, now Anna feared that Elsa would close herself off again because of one simple question, although that's why her powers went out of control as a kid.

"Can you thaw out the winter?" Anna repeated, rephrasing the question & Elsa froze as snow began to form around the two of them & the walls of the palace began to turn red. It was true that while Elsa knew how to set snow & ice onto stuff, she honestly had absolutely no clue how to turn her powers off.

"I can't, I don't know how!" she said but Anna would have none of that, explaining that, on top of having no place to go after getting thrown out of their kingdom, she went to Elsa's palace because she loved Elsa, regardless of all the times she was emotionally shut out by her. Although Elsa didn't know it, she always knew how to shut her powers off which was through love & as long as Elsa held love in her heart, her powers would always be at bay. Over the next couple days, using what Anna said, there were no snowstorms & no sudden blizzards in the still-frozen kingdom. The owl delivered the food & supplies but the only thing the blasted owl couldn't get was water, requiring someone to go there and get it. Anna, of course, jumped at the chance.

"Anna, no, you can't!" Elsa said as a mini snowstorm began to fall.

"Elsa, remember, love, fear is a no-no. Besides, I'll be back" Anna reassured her sister as she threw on her disguise but little did Anna know that Elsa had every right to be fearful, remembering that Anna was nearly discovered after the last trip into town & since Anna was a pariah (although she was never stripped of her princess title & Elsa never was either, because she exiled herself), she could be arrested immediately (despite the fact that no bounty was in play) if someone afflated with the kingdom noticed her under her disguise because it was standard protocol. But Elsa calmed herself, stopping the storm inside the castle.

Meanwhile, in town, a disguised Anna was waiting for the harvesters to return from their round and although she saw the owl, she didn't want to give off any suspicious movement to anyone who might notice & turn her in. Luckily for Anna, the harvesters were making their way back into town to begin the sale portion of their job but she was looking for the one who had a cannister of water, enough for two. After the disguised Anna collected the water & paid the harvester for his services, the harvester wouldn't let her leave.

"Hey, you from around here?" he asked, stopping Anna cold in her tracks. She theroized that the harvester must be trying to worm information that could confirm she was Princess Anna that he'd been serving. However, she had to BS an answer quickly.

"Uh, no" she answered.

"Funny, because I saw a chick with a cloak roaming around town yesterday", the harvester recounted, explaining he told his colleagues about the mysterious person with a lock of red hair after Anna left. The colleagues thought he must have been drunk because they had dismissed his explanation as "drunkard talk". He also mentioned that he only saw a lock of red hair as well and the colleagues snarked that mostly royalty has red hair.

"You must have seen my long-lost brother" Anna answered, throwing her voice to avoid detection. The harvester, however, wasn't buying her lies one bit and so, he started asking Anna all sorts of questions in regards to Arendelle culture, where she lived, the whole shebang. Anna, of course, bullcrapped all answers out to the questions until she heard the one question she was dreading to hear.

"What was the past queen of Arendelle's name?" he inquired & noticed Anna's hesitation immediately. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to", he added and Anna noticed that he seemed to hold no ulterior motives whatsoever and seemed to be genuine enough in that he didn't try to force her to answer the question, so she told him anyway but was still not convinced of his sudden interest in her.

"Elsa of Arendelle was the past queen, infamous for ruling only 2 hours before plunging the kingdom into an eternal winter", Anna said. At first, she was afraid she blew it but it turned out the harvester was impressed with Anna's vast knowledge of Arendelle and so assumed she was a frequent visitor from a neighboring kingdom, not realizing that she was actually a resident & sister to Elsa because she gave no indictation that she knew Elsa or witnessed the plunging when she answered the question.

"Wow, you must be well-read on Arendelle. The thing with Elsa isn't even in the history books yet", the harvester chuckled but he was also worried for his new friend, still not realizing that she was a princess. "You need a place to stay. Come to the castle where it's nice and warm", he offered and Anna, still not convinced of the harvester's true intentions yet although he did seem to care for her well-being, took him up on the offer but discreetly signaled the owl so she could give it the canister to take back to the ice palace.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Elsa was worried. Anna had been gone a really long time and fear began to overtake her again when she heard a flutter of wings flying through the door. It was the owl with the water canister. Elsa fed the owl and sent it back to the kingdom, which eased her a little bit, knowing Anna was still out there.

"Oh, Anna. Where are you?" she asked herself.

Meanwhile, the harvester was leading Anna through the palace. Again, Anna wasn't sure what the man's true intentions were but it felt strange to be home but again, she couldn't give the harvester ANY indication she was familiar with the inner workings and furnishings of the palace or the staff of it so she kept silent until they came to the council room where the acting king was holding court. The harvester knocked on the door to the room.

"Yes?" one of the king's advisors asked, having answered the door.

"I found someone outside in the marketplace. Claims she doesn't live in the kingdom", the harvester reported to the advisor and Anna gulped, knowing that this could be the beginning of the end for her because by the time Elsa would decide to end her self-imposed exile, Anna would may be on a boat, caged up, bound for a neighboring kingdom, disowned by Arendelle & stripped of her princess title because if Elsa received word that Anna was gone, she would eventually either (A: commit suicide or (B: remain in exile, growing old & eventually dying in the palace she erected. As the advisor motioned for the two to enter the king's chambers, Anna secretly hoped she would be spared for the sake of her sister.

"Sit down", the king motioned.

"It's respectful to stand in the king's presence", his advisor suggested so the two stood up.

"I said sit!" the king repeated his demand so Anna & her companion sat down again. "Now then", he rounded onto the harvester. "You say you found it in the marketplace?" he asked.

"Yes", the harvester nodded in confirmation as the king assessed the situation. Anna knew that the king couldn't be fooled because he isn't stupid by any means, after all, while her father was a competent ruler, he DID have a tendency to take things with a grain of salt unless it was fully specified to him. Anna was jolted out of her reverie when the king asked her a question.

"So, what is your name?" he asked as nicely as possible. Anna froze, clearly not expecting a question so, well aware that a lie won't work, a fact that, combined with her cloak getting removed despite resisting, she answered honestly.

"Anna", she said.

"Princess Anna of Arendelle", the king said, shocking the harvester. "It was brung to my attention that despite being exiled from the kingdom, one of my people saw you in the marketplace two days back", he said. Anna couldn't fight this information but she kept her mouth shut just in case. "However, as I'm only interim king until the true ruler can be located, I'll go easy on you and ensure you're treated well in the dungeons. You know the laws, princess, anyone who was exiled by the kingdom is considered a pariah and can't return. You not only broke those rules but did so willingly. Now, however, I was also told that it was the townspeople that ordered the exile so it wasn't legal anyway. What do you have to say on this matter?" he asked, which signaled Anna that she could speak.

"They were afraid I had powers like my sister, that's why they exiled me", she explained. The king listened closely but further explained that it was still exile and rules had to be obeyed regardless so, although it pained him deeply to do so, he had to hold Anna in the dungeons until he could find out the circumstances leading into the mess. True, he wasn't briefed on the situation when he was intiated king of the kingdom and needed the information he could get. He did promise Anna she would be treated kindly in the dungeons and would be released once he got the whole story. Anna was then escorted to the dungeons but as soon as she was locked in her cell, the owl (sent by Elsa) joined her. She immediately rang for a parchment & ink dip so she could write a note to Elsa, explaining the situation.

The owl returned with the note and as Elsa read it, her heart sank but eased up when Anna revealed in her letter that at least, she won't lose her head or be sent to another kingdom. She also explained in her letter that she needed to end her own exile for her sake & the sake of the kingdom because they insituted a new ruler. Elsa realized she now had a moral decision to make: Return to the kingdom that she was supposed to rule or remain in her own exile. True, she did enjoy the forced bonding time with Anna and she learned a lot, which included that as long as she held love, her powers would always be at bay. Fueled with the realization that she was never alone, she decided to return to the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the king, after being briefed on the situation that followed, kept his word and released Anna from the dungeon, just in time to see Elsa come down in a jailbreak attempt despite knowing that Anna was indeed okay (older sister instinct). Elsa then reinstated herself as queen of Arendelle, the acting king was relived but stayed on as advisor, released the kingdom from her plunge of winter & Anna, well, she had her sister back and she could never be happier.

**AN: Well, that's it! The End! I know it seems like a lackster ending after a thrilling cliffhanger but that's how it goes. Also, in case anyone doesn't know what "interim" means, it means you're "acting" in a position until a replacement can be found and if not, you would receive the powers of the position. Again, I do not own the Frozen property & characters & have no intentions of making money off of them.**


End file.
